***

I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around the reaction to Jason Arday’s fraud, unmasking, and suicide. This should have been a clear case where everyone involved is horrified, humiliated, and swearing to whatever divine entity they believe in that they would make sure something like this never happens again. And yet, that isn’t the case. There is a remarkably staunch defense of Arday among the academics. Maybe this is a blatant effort to gaslight in order to protect the prestigious reputation of Cambridge, and while they know the Arday situation is a massive debacle, they’re in for a pound now in order to save what face they can.

(As a tangent, the world at large seems to be more forgiving to someone who earnestly confesses wrongdoing, genuinely apologizes, and then works to rectify the situation. In converse, the world grows enraged when people lie, obfuscate, and pretend they never did anything wrong in the first place. And yet, people in important positions keep falling into the trap of worrying far more about their reputations than honesty, as though one’s reputation can be maintained by further breaches of integrity. Is this what is happening in Cambridge in particular, and the academic world at large?)

On the other hand, given the DEI trends, the progressive invasion of Critical Race Theory in all institutes and walks of life, it may actually be the case the academics believe that Arday was right where he needed to be, and revealing his fraud was inexplicable outside of racist motives. After all, we know that concepts like “merit” are racist. If I understand this mentality correctly (and I am open to any correction anyone wants to offer), merit is something we should discount when it comes to any profession. Results like profitability and production are frameworks meant to suppress the poor and the minorities. Since there is a dearth of black people in British academia, the situation can only be rectified by putting a black person into academia. Arday’s inclusion in Cambridge was entirely about achieving the equitable end of more black people in the faculty, and thus taking any steps that would try to show he does not deserve to be there is fundamentally wrong. His position is guaranteed by his skin color, because the results of his teaching and research aren’t what is important. Ending the under-representation of minorities is what’s important.

What about Arday’s fraud, plagiarism, and lies? To even construe the situation as such is racism. Keep in mind, if academia is fine with men identifying as women, with women identifying as men, with people identifying as animals, adults identifying as babies, what is wrong with someone who identifies as a ultra-marathon runner and charity donor? If underlying reality is secondary to how one views himself, and if results don’t actually matter, then it should be readily apparent that all that Arday claimed is valid. One cannot question Arday without inflicting violence on him, because questioning whether he actually ran 30 marathons in 35 days, or donated millions of dollars to charity is to impugn how Arday sees himself, and how he sees himself is paramount. Who are we to say nay?

To focus in on the plagiarism, let’s not forget that so much of academia seems unconcerned with plagiarism in general, and that it continues follow the progressive mentality. After all, if it is right and just to take the fruits of someone’s labor and hand it to someone else economically, how is doing so academically any different? We’ve seen jokes about teaching a child about communism by asking if he would share part of his “A” grade with a failing student so that they both get a “C”, and supposedly the child is horrified at the concept. But why should that be the case? It is only horrifying if one accepts the premise that one is entitled to keep what one produces. To each according to his need, after all. He needs that “A” less than the failing student needs that “C”.

My whole point is that that maybe, just maybe, the unbelievable reaction in academia to Arday’s unmasking and suicide make perverted sense once one really follows the progressive mindset to its illogical conclusions. Maybe these academics, far from cynically using Arday as a mascot and a checked box in diversity hiring, truly believe all the things they preach and see absolutely nothing wrong with what Arday did.

Cynical ass-covering, or true belief — I’m not sure which is worse.